AP World Unit 4 Vocab

Iberia

____ Peninsula in Europe, encompassing Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and Gibraltar, but historically also denotes an ancient kingdom in the Caucasus (modern-day Georgia)

Reconquista

the centuries-long period (roughly 711-1492) in the Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal) when Christian kingdoms fought to reclaim territories from Muslim rule

Prince Henry

a Portuguese royal who was a key figure in initiating the Age of Discovery by sponsoring voyages down Africa's coast, establishing navigation schools, and advancing maritime technology like the caravel

Ceuta

the strategically vital North African port captured by Portugal in 1415

Sagres

the location in Portugal where Prince Henry the Navigator established a school of navigation during the Age of Discovery

Caravel

a small, highly maneuverable 15th-century Portuguese and Spanish ship

Bartolomeu Dias

pivotal Portuguese explorer, the first European to sail around Africa's southern tip, the Cape of Good Hope, in 1488

Vasco da Gama

became the first European to reach India by sea, sailing around Africa's Cape of Good Hope, thus opening a vital maritime route for Europe to Asia's lucrative spice trade, significantly boosting Portugal's economy

Pedro Cabral

a Portuguese nobleman and explorer who, while leading a fleet to India in 1500, landed in Brazil

Cortes

Spanish conquistador who conquered the Aztec Empire in the early 16th century

Pizarro

Spanish conquistador who conquered the vast Inca Empire in Peru during the 16th century, leading to Spanish colonization

Treaty of Tordesillas

a pact between Spain and Portugal, brokered by the Pope, that divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe

Trading Post Empires

a maritime empire, like Portugal's in the Indian Ocean, focused on controlling trade routes through fortified coastal settlements (trading posts) rather than vast inland territories,

Settler Colonies

a territory where a colonizing power sends large numbers of its people to permanently live, displace the indigenous population, establish new societies (often "neo-Europeans"), and create new governance and social structures,

Great Dying

the catastrophic loss of up to 90% of Indigenous populations in the Americas after European contact (c. 1492-1700s), primarily due to diseases like smallpox, to which they had no immunity, alongside warfare and disruption

Columbian Exchange

the massive transfer of plants, animals, diseases, technology, people, and ideas between the Old World (Europe, Africa, Asia) and the New World (the Americas) after Columbus's voyages

Triangular Trade / Atlantic System

a 16th-19th century transatlantic trade network connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas, involving European manufactured goods to Africa, enslaved people to the Americas (Middle Passage), and American raw materials (sugar, tobacco, cotton) to Europe

Mercantalism

an economic theory from the 16th-18th centuries where national strength equals wealth (gold/silver), achieved by maximizing exports, minimizing imports (favorable trade balance) through government control, tariffs, and colonies supplying raw materials/markets, fueling European expansion and competition

Chartered Companies

government-backed, private businesses (like the British/Dutch East India Companies) granted exclusive royal charters to monopolize trade, explore, and colonize specific regions (Asia, Americas), pooling investor capital to fund risky ventures, establish colonies, extract resources, and wage war, significantly driving European mercantilism and global empires

Middle Passage

brutal, forced sea journey of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas, the deadly second leg of the Triangular Trade.

Plantations

a large estate in a tropical/subtropical region growing a single, valuable cash crop (like sugar, cotton, tobacco, coffee) for export, heavily relying on intensive labor

Plantocracy

a ruling class of wealthy plantation owners, especially in the 18th-century Caribbean, who controlled vast amounts of land and enslaved labor, effectively forming a government or society dominated by their economic and political power, often built on sugar and slavery

Work Gangs

a method of organizing enslaved labor on plantations, especially in the antebellum American South and the Caribbean, to maximize efficiency in the cultivation of cash crops

Maroons

descendants of enslaved Africans who escaped plantations in the Americas and formed independent, often secluded communities in remote areas

Palmares

the largest and most famous settlement of escaped enslaved Africans (maroons) in colonial Brazil during the 17th century

Signares

influential African/mixed-race women in 18th-19th century French colonial Senegal (St. Louis, Gorée) who formed unions with European merchants, gaining wealth, property, and high social status by acting as trade brokers, cultural intermediaries, and property owners

Dahomey

a powerful West African kingdom (modern-day Benin) from the 17th-19th centuries, crucial to the Atlantic Slave Trade, known for its strong military, centralized rule by hereditary kings, and unique cultural aspects like the female warriors (Amazons)

Kongo

a powerful Central African state (c. 14th-19th centuries) vital in AP World History for its complex trade (ivory, copper, slaves), adoption of Christianity (influencing rulers like King Afonso I), significant interaction with Portuguese explorers (Mbanza Kongo becoming a dual European/African city)

Philippines

crucial as a site of late 19th/early 20th-century American imperialism after the Spanish-American War (1898), leading to the Philippine-American War, significant educational/political changes, and its strategic role in WWII

Piece of Eight

a widely used silver coin from the Spanish Empire (16th-18th centuries) that served as the world's first global currency

Potosi

a massive Spanish colonial silver mining city, crucial for funding the Spanish Empire and the Global Silver Trade, using indigenous coerced labor